THE PRESIDENTIAL CRUISE OF 1938 



By WALDO L. SCHMITT 



Curator, Division of Marine Invertebrates, 



U. S. National Museum 



When the President invited the Smithsonian Institution to partici- 

 pate in his recent cruise to the Galapagos Islands, I was pleased 

 beyond words that I was designated Naturalist to the expedition. All 

 manner of collecting was undertaken : fishing, bird hunting and 

 botanizing, dredging, tidepool and shore collecting — indeed all kinds 

 of endeavor that might yield something of interest to the Institution 

 and our National Collections. The ichthyological collection, which 

 perhaps took first place in the President's interest, is one of the most 

 important ever to have come to the National Museum from that 

 section of the Pacific. 



In looking over the material brought back, one cannot help being 

 imbued with an enthusiastic appreciation of the President as a man of 

 broad biological interests and a generous patron of science. Through- 

 out the cruise he took an active part and a live interest in all our 

 collecting. 



The success of any expedition depends almost wholly upon the 

 adequacy of its equipment and personnel. Expeditions to otherwise 

 inaccessible places are using ever larger airplanes, and so, too, the 

 use of correspondingly larger ships has proved to be of untold value 

 in marine investigations. This, I know, is quite the reverse of what 

 an uninitiated investigator might be led to believe, but the use of a 

 large battle cruiser such as the U.S.S. Houston proved an unqualified 

 asset and a blessing every day of the trip. Having this ship as our 

 base of operations made it possible to accomplish as much as we did 

 in a scant 24 days at sea. 



The Houston is a full 600 feet in length. Her full complement 

 totals over 700 men and officers. On this particular cruise, however, 

 the crew numbered nearer 600. Thus, at all times there was ample 

 assistance at hand for whatever undertaking the day might bring 

 forth. 



The ship has a top speed of 32 knots, which is something like 40 

 miles an hour. However, at no time did she find it necessary to go 

 above 26 knots, about 30 miles an hour. The Houston, moreover, 



